In this laboratory experiment students synthesize a precatalyst, [Ni(P(OEt) 3 ) 4 ]. The precatalyst is protonated insitu to make [HNi(P(OEt) 3 ) 4 ] +, a nickel hydride, which is an active catalyst for alkene isomerization. Students produce the nickel hydride in the presence of 1-heptene at 0 ° C and monitor the extent of heptene isomerization by gas chromatography as a function of time. Students use this data to assess the effectiveness of their catalyst. The catalytic mechanism involves common reactions in organometallic chemistry such as: ß-hydride elimination and alkene insertion. This experiment combines synthetic and physical techniques to introduce students to synthetic and mechanistic organometallic chemistry.
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Birdwhistell et al. (1997) studied this question.